Chapter 14 Preparing for the Flower Banquet (2)
Meng Qi saw that Song was unhappy, but didn't take it to heart. He let go of Song's arm, took a piece of snack from the food box, walked to the glass window, and lay there to feed the fish.
Jiang brought the tea and respectfully passed it to Song. "Fourth sister is just a child, grandma, please don't take it to heart. But what you just said reminded me that there are still more than 20 days left, and it is really boring to do this every day. How about holding a flower banquet here?"
"Hold a flower banquet? Sister-in-law, what flower banquet are you talking about? There are not even any beautiful flowers in this garden?" When Meng Qi heard Jiang say this, she threw the snacks in her hand into the fish tank.
Chunyi looked at Meng Qi who took Jiang's arm and started to rock again, and felt sorry for the fish in the tank that had just been replaced.
"It's just a gimmick to call it a flower banquet. We don't have any flowers here, so we can bring some from home. Forget about anything else. Just look at the Yao Huang, Wei Zi and the Bai Xue Tower in grandma's yard. Not to mention the people in this old house, even in Tiandu City, I'm afraid not many people have seen them."
Song clapped her hands happily and said, "That's right, that's good. Bring over the orchids from your second aunt's yard, and the Green Clouds and West Lake Willow Moons from your mother's yard. Then go to the flower market and find some ordinary ones. I think it should be enough for a garden like this."
The three of their masters were talking happily here. Mother Wu and Chunyi looked at each other and saw their helplessness. Those flowers that had just been picked were all top-quality ones. Not to mention that they might break branches or fall flowers if they were moved around like this, just moving these over would mean that the gardener who usually took care of these flowers would have to come along. Mother Wu felt a headache just thinking about it, but what else could she do?
Meng Qi clapped her hands excitedly, "Great, great. I will then release the deer, peacocks, and golden pheasants I have been hunting for these days into the pond at the back, so that they can have a look and broaden their horizons."
There is a saying that is particularly true in both ancient and modern times, that is, if you do the above, you will run around. When hosting a flower banquet, apart from the most busy work of arranging the arrangements, the second busiest part is the kitchen. Hosting a flower banquet is just an excuse for any family, and the main thing is the food.
Song was in charge of the West Mansion this time, so naturally she had to do everything in a good way and must not let these clansmen find fault with it, although even if the food was not good they would not dare to say a word.
To entertain the clan members from the West House, the wife's small kitchen could not be used. The people in the big kitchen began to get busy, pulling baskets of chicken, duck, fish and meat into the kitchen.
Since it was Jiang who suggested this flower banquet, Song simply kept Jiang to plan it. When Jiang heard Song's arrangement, she wanted to slap herself in the face. She came up with such an idea just to please Song, but ended up finding work for herself.
Not to mention the wife of the third young master in the mansion, Zhang, who was the wife of his own brother-in-law, the third son of Meng Wei, who was a carefree person who only cared about her own yard and didn't worry about other matters. But the wife of the second son of the second house, Meng Ji, was not like that. She had been eyeing the little power in her hands recently. And although the third wife, Liu, was only staying temporarily, she didn't look so simple-minded. Who knew what she was thinking? The third master, Meng Hai, was now the favorite of the whole family.
If she came here to help for a few days, she would have to temporarily hand over the things she was in charge of in the mansion to others. She was not worried about whether she could take them back when the time came, but she was afraid that these two people had bad intentions. Although the time was short, they could do something to prevent her from getting any benefits in front of the Crown Prince's wife, Wang. Although she did not care whether she would be treated well in front of Wang.
But the idea was put forward, and Song personally spoke, so no matter how reluctant he was, he had no choice but to leave his younger son Yue Ge'er at home and bring his older son Lang Ge over.
While Jiang was giving the list of guests to be invited to the banquet, she also sent for three chefs who specialized in banquets to come back and set up a temporary stove in the outer courtyard to prepare several main dishes.
The kitchen where Su Qing worked had several young wives who were quick and nimble. Mother Yu would come over several times a day to check on the preparation of the dishes. It was fine if the dishes were a little rough at other times, as they were eaten by the servants, but at this time, they had to be more meticulous. Not only did the dishes have to be delicious, but they also had to be novel, and each dish had to be related to flowers. So the menu for the banquet was revised again and again, and was finally finalized two days before the banquet.
Including the specialty dishes of the chefs in the big restaurant outside the courtyard and the dishes made by the big kitchen, there are 36 dishes in total. Ten hot dishes, ten cold dishes, ten dried fruits, and six special snacks. The names of the dishes are also very nice, all of which are festive and auspicious and related to flowers.
After finally deciding on the menu, Jiang took it back to the old lady.
As soon as she entered the room, she heard Langge'er's voice, "Fourth aunt, I want one too, I want one too." The maid lifted the curtain, and Jiang saw her eldest son standing on tiptoe to reach an object in Meng Qi's hand, but Meng Qi lifted her foot high and refused to give it to him, and kept teasing him, "Come on, if you have the guts, come and get it yourself, look at how small you are."
When Jiang got closer, she realized that Meng Qi was holding a small wooden sword with a red ribbon underneath.
Jiang was unhappy but she didn't show it on her face. She walked to Meng Qi, took down the small sword and handed it to her eldest son. Meng Qi was about to get upset when Jiang handed her the menu. "Take a look, fourth sister. I don't know what the young ladies you often hang out with like to eat these days. If there's anything special, it's not too late to add more now."
"What do they know? Every time they come, they act as if they have never seen anything served before." Meng Qi said this, but she took the menu and looked at it carefully. Jiang winked at Lang Ge's wet nurse, and the wet nurse hurriedly pulled Lang Ge, who had regained his sword, to the Bisha kitchen.
"I think they are a bunch of unsophisticated people. I guarantee that they have never eaten any of these, let alone eaten them, they have never even heard of them. Grandma, what do you think?" Meng Qi handed the menu to Song. Song took it, glanced at it and smiled, "Sister Qi is right. They are not important people. It's okay. The main purpose is to entertain us. You see, we will be busy like this for a few days, and then we will go back in ten days or so. It's just to kill time." As she spoke, she handed the list back to Jiang.
Jiang smiled and said, "Grandma is right, but I still want to prepare a few dishes so that they can be grateful to grandma in the future. If it weren't for grandma's kindness, just like fourth sister said, they would never be able to eat in this life."
This sentence made the two people happy. Song nodded, "That's right. You don't have to tell me about other things. Just do it as you see fit. When will the flowers be moved in? Have you found someone to take care of them on a daily basis? You must be careful."
"Yes, except for the people who come with us from the mansion, the daily care will be handed over to Mother Liu. And my granddaughter-in-law thought that to show our sincerity, we might as well use the vegetables from our yard."
"That's a good idea. Let her see that we give them all the food we eat every day so that they will know how to be grateful." Song said.
"Yes, if grandma has no objection, I will take the menu to the kitchen right away."
"Go, go, when the sun isn't so hot later, let's go for a walk in the vegetable garden and take a look at the vegetables, ok?" The latter sentence was said to Meng Qi.
"No, there's nothing to see in that vegetable garden. I also want to go see those wild ducks." When the third young master Meng Wei heard that Meng Qi was going to hold this flower banquet and also wanted to get some small animals to show off, he had someone send several wild ducks over, and they are now in the pond in the backyard.
Song was not angry about Meng Qi's rejection, but Jiang sighed. If things continued like this, Song and Wang would have troubles in the future. Zhu waved and asked Baoping, the eldest maid beside him, to take the menu to the kitchen.